MUMBAI, March 18, 2025: Spotify has unveiled this year’s Loud & Clear report, a transparent look at how the streaming economy continues to support artists and fuel the music industry’s explosive growth. The report demystifies how artists earn money through streaming, clarifies royalty distribution, and highlights the evolving global music landscape. In India, the growth continues upward for the artist community not just locally, but across the world.
Spotify’s contribution to the local music industry has been growing steadily since its launch six years ago. In 2024 alone, artists from India were discovered over 11.2 billion times by first-time listeners on the audio streaming platform, an increase of 13% since 2023. Through artist education initiatives, emerging artist programs, on-ground experiences, and more, Spotify is connecting artists and their fans more deeply than ever before. The success of Indian artists on the platform is highlighted in the key insights of this year’s Loud & Clear report.
Spotify is contributing to the artist economy in India
Since 2022, the number of Indian artists generating over INR 50 lac in royalties from Spotify alone has more than doubled. During the same time period, Indian artists generating over INR 1 crore in royalties from the platform alone have more than tripled, and those generating over INR 5 crore in royalties, have doubled. In fact, approximately two-thirds of the royalties generated in India in 2024 came from Indian artists, comparable to last year.
Indian artists have seen year-on-year growth on Spotify
Over 90% of the tracks that were featured on Spotify India’s daily top 50 playlist in 2024, were by local artists, a 6% increase from 2023. Close to 50% of all royalties generated by Indian artists on Spotify in 2024 were from listeners outside of India, up from 40% in 2023. The USA, UK, UAE, Pakistan, Canada, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka are a few of the countries where Indian languages were most streamed. Additionally, over 9,000 Indian artists were added to global and local editorial playlists on Spotify in 2024, compared to 8700 in the previous year.
Diversity of languages and genres represented in music export
Royalties generated by Indian artists performing in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu have each more than doubled since 2021. In addition, music performed in Telugu was one of the fastest growing in popularity in 2024, with a 39% increase in royalties generated globally year-on-year, and more than doubling since 2021. Amongst these languages, some of the most-streamed genres include Hindi pop, Hindi hip hop, Punjabi hip hop, Hindi indie, Malayalam hip hop, Punjabi pop, and Tamil pop.
In 2024, several pop and hip-hop artists contributed to the global growth of music from India, led by Arijit Singh, Pritam, Anirudh Ravichander, Karan Aujla, Shreya Ghoshal, Diljit Dosanjh, Hanumankind, Kalmi, A.R. Rahman, Sidhu Moose Wala, Amitabh Bhattacharya, Vishal-Shekhar, AP Dhillon, Badshah, and Alka Yagnik.
During the time, Indian artists saw the positive impact of Spotify’s global reach, with over 65% of the top 30 most exported songs stemming from beyond the film industry.
Globally, Spotify continues to lead the music industry in payouts, with more than $10 billion distributed in music royalties in 2024 alone, globally – increasing payouts tenfold over the past ten years. The company has now paid out around $60 billion since its inception.
The future of music is being shaped by its most passionate force: fans. New opportunities for innovation, collaboration, and creative expression will emerge as they continue to embrace and support artists across streaming platforms. With global access to diverse sounds and cultures stronger than ever, artists will keep pushing boundaries, and fans will play an even more significant role in shaping the next era of music. The industry is not just growing, it’s evolving into an ecosystem where listeners and creators thrive together.